Connecting to the natural world is a great antidote for our increasingly stressful world. From the 12th Century, Saint Francis knew of the connection and its powerful healing qualities. Our liturgy this week will invite us more deeply into this important relationship.

Understanding our fear of the unknown helps us know ourselves. The fear of the unknown is a fundamental part of the human experience. From a biological perspective, it's a survival mechanism, helping our ancestors avoid potential environmental threats. From a psychological viewpoint, we fear the unknown because of the anxiety and uncertainty it brings This process involves reframing our perspective on fear, viewing it not as an adversary, but an ally.

Memories can be described as stories of the mind for the purposes of a homily, the importance to community and the recognition that nothing is ever static or lost. Everything from the past adds up to who we are today, whether we realise it or not. Memories may be disturbing or pleasurable. Whatever the memory, the value will be a surprise as we discover how memory might enhance life, the past, the present and how much value memories may be to the next step of making new memories.

This weekend following on from Heather’s wonderful homily and in keeping with the theme of Season of Creation we will be viewing a reflective piece by well-known theologian Dennis Edwards. He invites us to see that all is infused with the sacred.

Every year, Christians around the world, from across denominations, commit the month of September as a season to celebrate God’s beautiful Earth, and renew their shared commitment to restoring that beauty. This is called the Season of Creation and the theme this year is “To hope and act with all Creation”. Season of Creation 2024 began on 1st of September, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and ends on 4th October

As we live in increasingly precarious times, our fears can get the better of us. The easy way is to see increasingly more people as others, different from us and a threat to us. It is a sentiment magnified in the rhetoric of increasingly more conservative politicians. But this sentiment is the opposite from the invitation of Jesus who invites us to see everyone as our sister or brother, especially the poor, the stranger and the outcast.

In this week’s homily, Rose shares with us her journey with her identity and how this has brought her to a place of radical self-acceptance. She explores how existing outside the status quo can create a sense of freedom and invites us to bring this idea of radical self-acceptance into our own lives.

Simon Cleary will talk about some of what the river and its people taught him during his month-long walk along the banks of the Brisbane River/Maiwar in May 2022. This led to his just published fourth book, Everything is Water (UQP).